Vehicle-suspension means



May 67 93. C, KECK 1,757,839

' VEHICLE SUSPENSION lMEANS Filed Jan. l5, 1927 2 Sh9GtS-Sheet l 2%; l1 L [I M! E y am, r

I wue'ntot Chrisian Kem,

May 6, C. KECK VEHICLE SUSPENS ION MEANS Filed Jan. l5, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Chrsfian Meriti Patented May 6, 1930 Param' oFF-ien,

CHRISTIAN KECK, OF CRESCENT SRINGS, KENTUCKY VEHICLE-SUSPENSION MEANS Application led January 13, 1927.

Thisinvention relates to Vvehicle suspension means andV has for an object the provision of means whereby the commonly used and er;- pensive springs are eliminated.

Another object is to provide a vehicle suspension means which is practically frictionless and which is free from wear so that there is little possibility of rattling and looseness after a period ot use.

Another object is to provide a suspension means ofthe class referred to which is adaptable to adjustment to a fine state ot balance.

Another object is to provide a device ot' this kind wherein none of the shock7 and vibration of the wheels andaxles of the vehicle can be transmitted to the body thereof.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying dra-wings7 in which r Fig. 1 is a crosssectional side elevational View of a vehicle chassis, part being broken away, having suspension devices of the inventionv embodied therein.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view oi a lever' structure forming a part of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view ot' a pair of mounting. elements for the lever structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. l is an elevational view of a rod forining a detail of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on line ofFig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part forming` a detail of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a view taken on liney 7 7 of Fig. In the structure of the` vehicle suspension or thev present invention there is provided a simple bell crank lever structure having'a substantially frictionless iulcrum mounting and carrying af rod which has a similar substantially fi'ictionless fulcrum mounting on said lever.v A casing member forms a means for rrig-idly mounting the lever on the chassis and also servesas` an abutment for the spring.

elements of the devices.

Referring to the drawing, in Fig. 1 there One of the Serial. No. 160,998'.

vided adjacent eachv of the four wheels ot the vehicle, and these suspension elements are identical in operation and substantially the same in structure and method of mounting. Rearwa-rdly of the front axle 10, on each of the longitudinal channels 9 av casing 12 is secured by any suitable' means such as bolts 1B and 14. The casing 12 is preferably made in two parts so tha the operating partsmay be conveniently assembled therein. The housing portionl 15 ofcasing 12 comprisesv a box lilestructurehaving a tlat top 16 which abuts the bottom face'17 of channel member 9 and a flange 18' extending at right angles to the top 16 and adapted to abut the outer falce 19 of channel member 9. A cover portion 20 provides a cover for the open side oi the meinber 15 and has its upper' portion in abutment with the flange 18. The bolts 13j serve to clamp the upper end of cover 20 to iiznge 1S and suitable cap screws 21 bind the lower portion of the cover tothe member @asing member 15 has' an opening 22 in its end wall 23, which end wall is also cut away to receive interiitting lugs 24 and 25 which eX- 71 tend at right angles from thel edges of cover member 20. rllhe housing' and cover compriscasing`12 maybe malleable castings there-l by providing a' comparatively light weight but very strong mounting for the suspension means. Housing 15 andi cover 20' have aligned bores 26 and 27 in which areA seated flanged bearing rings 28'- and 29"- ot' hardened steel".

A bell crank lever 3'() has anarm Bl proL U5 vided with a shouldered integral stud 32 threaded as aie-33 at the cxtreme end thereof. A hub`V 3d has a transverse angular opening 35 extending tl'i'eretlrrough. The' opening is conveniently made square for receii'fingjtlre' central square. porti-on* 36y o'f a` iulcruinf meniber 3? which is otl hardened steel. rlhe oppor-- site' ends ofthe' irrlciuin niemberV 37 extending beyond` opposed side faces 8F of hub-- 34 arev` also angular in cross section and of smaller f area than thez central portion 36; As shown in Fig. 2A these ends: are` preferably pentagonall lier providing top` knife edges` The bell crank lever) 3U isv iu-lcruine'd. in the casing' by" passing the opposite" projecting ends of ifirlL leo crum 37 into the hollow interiors of bearing rings 28 and 29.

A short integral arm extends downwardly from hub 34 and substantially at right angles to lever arm 31, rl`he arm 40 is bifurcated to provide branches 41 which have aligned perforations 42 therein. A yair of flanged bearing rings 48 of hardened steel are mounted in perforations 42 for receiving the opposite ends of a second fulcrum member 44 which is nonrotatably mounted in an angular bore 45 in rod 4G. The rod 4G is provided with a central disc like hub portion 4T having the bore 45 extending transversely therethrough. T he rod 4b has a long arm' 48, threaded at its end as at 49 and an aligned short arm 5() threaded at its free end as at The fulcrum member 44 has knife edges 52 which extend in the direction of the threaded end 51 of the short arm of rod 46. This structure serves as a Fulcrum mounting for the rod 46 between the branches 41 of yoke arm 40. The arms 48 and 50 of rod 45 extend through suitable openings in the casing 12 and project from opposite sides thereof (see Fig. 1). A. heavy coil spring 53 encircles the arm 48 of rod 46 and has its one end in abutment with an outer wall of the casing 1Q. rl"he opposite end of spring 53 abuts a suitable washer 54 which is retained adjacent the threaded end 49 of arm 48 by means of a suitable lock nut 55.

The opposite projecting arm 50 has a comparatively lighter coil spring 56 which abuts the opposite side of casing 12 and is retained inv position by a washer 57 and lock nut 58. rl'he arm 31 of the bell crank lever extends hrough opening 22 in the casing 12 and has its stud port-ion 32 fixedly mounted in the bore 59 in a box 60 by means of a lock nut (51. The box 60 is securely mounted on the top of front axle 10 by any suitable means such as by bolts G2. As will be seen in Fig. 5, suitable ball bearings (SZ-3 are interposed between the opposite faces of hub 34 and the flanges of bearing rings 28 and From the foregoing and by reference to Fig. 1 itwill he apparent that the weight 1 of the chassis and body (not shown) mounted on the chassis will cause the bearing rings 28 and :'29 to rest in a state of balance on the knife edges 39 of fulerum member 87. The bell crank lever rigidly attached to fulcruni member 37 will tend to move the short arm 40 forwardly and to carry the rod 46 with it. Coil spring 53 abutting the casing 12 is slightly compressed through this action and serves to sustain the Weight of the chi and body so that this weight is suspended from axle 10 through the agency of arm 31. The small spring 57 serves to cushion the arm 31 and axle 10 againstdownward movement such as occurs when the front Wheel of a vehicle drops into a depression in the road. The heavier spring 58 cushions the effect of sudden upward movement of the front axle 10, this being the movement which results from a vehicle wheel striking an obstruction or raised placed on a roadway. It will be readily apparent that upward or downward movement of the axle 10 and the end of lever arm- 81 will effect a very slight tilting fulcrum member 87 which has its knife edge 89 always retained lirmly against the top inner circumference of the bores in bearing rings 28 and 29. rIbis knife edged fulcrum bearing is practically i'i'ictionless and causes practically no wear on the hardcned steel knife edge and bearing rings. The ball bearings G3 preclude lateral movement olI the forward end of arm 81 and also reduces to a minimum the friction between the side faces or" hub 30 and the lianges of bearinrr rings 28 and The structures for suspending the rear ends of a vehicle chassis are substantially like the forward suspension element just described. he sole differences are found in the shape of casing and lever arm 310. The casing 120 (see right hand side of Fig. 1) is suitably curved and flanged at its top to accommodate the rear horn of the channel member 9. The arm 810 is curved so that it may be secured beneath the rear axle 11 by means of a box 600 similar to the box GO on the front axle.

1t will be noted that the springs 53 may be tensione-.d by means of lock nuts 55 and springs 56 may be tensioned by means of lock nuts 58 so that either light or heavy vehicles may be simply and expeditiously mounted to ride smoothly and evenly without shock or rebound. The suspension dev'ces of the invention require practically no care or attention, and need not be lubricated, except perhaps to preclude rusting of the parts. The movement of the bearing` parts is very little and practically frictionless so that wear on the parts negligible, for as long as the opposed springs .i and 5h retain the knife edges against the bearing rings there is no possibility of rattling and loosening of paris during use.

While there has been shown herein but one practical embodiment ofthe invention, it will be understood that the invention is not to be considered as limited to the exact design shown, since this may be modified and varied within the spirit of this invention and within the scope of the appended claim.

That is claimed is In combination a lever, a knife-edged fulcrum non-rotatably mounted in said lever, a pair of rings supported on opposite sides of the lever on said knife-edged fulcrum, and a ball. race operative between each side of the lever and an adjacent side of one of said rin and surrounding the knife-edged fulcrum. v

ln testimony whereof, I, have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of December, 19%. CHRlSTlAN KECK. 

